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Chapter 32
The Hangover : Sanskari Edition

The room was quiet.
Unusually quiet.
Suspiciously quiet.

Aaravi stirred under the blanket, a soft rustle breaking the unnatural silence. But she didn't wake. Instead, she turned in her sleep, her foot lazily extending out-and promptly smacking into the unfortunate soul lying next to her.

Enzo.

He stirred as well, face twitching in mild protest as the impact registered somewhere in his sleep-hazed brain. But unlike her, his brain decided to clock in for a shift.

Slowly, very slowly, he blinked into semi-consciousness, though his eyes remained closed. His temples throbbed like there was a tiny drum circle going off inside his skull. He groaned-a low, soul-deep sound of suffering that might've been dramatic if it weren't so muffled by the pillow.

He shifted, or at least tried to. His body made a valiant effort to flip onto its stomach... and failed. A groan of betrayal followed as he gave up halfway and flopped his head to the side like a dying prince in a tragic play. His limbs refused to cooperate, his energy levels were currently at "near-death," and worst of all-

People were whispering.

From somewhere above his still corpse-like position, two familiar voices floated in.

"Yeh kaisa banda hai yaar," Mihir's voice hissed, equal parts confusion and judgment. "Pichle paanch minutes se uthne ke process mein hai. Abhi tak aankhein bhi nahi kholi."

"Bhai, yeh real life hai," Mahi hissed back. "Aur upar se yeh ek teenager hai. Of course uthne mein time lagega. Aur tu bol bhi aise raha hai jaise khud bada punctual hai. Tujhe uthane mein toh mummy ko aadha ghanta lag jaata hai."

There was a pause. Possibly because Mihir had been verbally body-slammed.

Enzo heard it all. Registered it. Filed it under "Will mock later." But for now, he chose peace. And by peace, he meant pretending to sleep again.

He had just begun to drift back into unconsciousness when-

Shake.
Shake shake shake.
Aggressively personal space-violating shake.

"Maan ja bhai, ab toh uth ja. Itna patience nahi hai mere andar," Mihir was saying, as if Enzo were a stubborn parcel delivery.

Enzo groaned again, this time more dramatically, and finally-finally-opened his eyes.

He did not sit up. No, he merely turned his head very slowly to face Mihir and stared at him. A full-on, glassy-eyed, death-stare-of-a-newborn-baby-chick kind of stare.

Mihir froze. His fingers still hovered mid-air, like he was unsure whether to keep shaking or call for an exorcist.

"Bhai, main toh sirf tujhe uthane aaya tha..." Mihir mumbled, backing away slowly like someone who had poked a sleeping lion and regretted every life choice leading up to that moment. "Mujhe aise kyun dekh raha hai..."

Mahi, standing off to the side with a bottle of water in one hand, covered her mouth to hide a laugh. Her eyes sparkled with the kind of evil joy only a well-rested sibling watching chaos unfold can know.

Enzo blinked once, dramatically. Then turned his head to the other side-only to freeze slightly.

There, curled up like a burrito on the single bed, was Aaravi.